A Good Mother at Home, Part 29

In his own room, even in his own home.

He had returned directly here, using a direct traversal method from the Club, which was currently located on the shopping street.

Looking at all the familiar items in the room, a feeling akin to having lived through a lifetime washed over him. The Club wasn't without places to rest; in fact, the two floors above the Club were used for living quarters.

As the owner of the Club, one could live a very long life, unless they were waiting to die. The long river of time would cause the owner of the Club to lose his home, with the only sense of belonging left being the Club itself.

Therefore, the two floors above the Club were quite exquisite.

However, those matters were still very distant for Luo Qiu. The expensive incense burning on the upper floors of the Club was refreshing, but it couldn't compare to the bedding in this small room, filled with the scent of sunshine.

Luo Qiu turned on the old CD player in the room, and the slowly flowing notes made him feel at ease.

He lay on the bed, trying hard to recall the events of the past two days.

He had completed his first transaction, and his remaining thirty days of lifespan had become sixty days. It wasn't that having an extra thirty days allowed him to treat his situation with leniency. It was simply because Luo Qiu felt that if he couldn't be alone and quiet, it would be difficult for him to plan what he should do next.

He wasn't someone who was rational by nature, but rather, due to long periods of solitude and the lingering sense of loneliness in his heart, he had become accustomed to thinking.

Generally speaking, thinking things through before acting was fundamentally different from acting without thinking.

He slowly planned his path – if nothing unexpected happened, his life would have no discernible end. He also wouldn't age, but in ten, or at most twenty years, this secret would no longer be kept.

The Club drifted from place to place; perhaps it had come to the commercial street this time for this very reason.

There was no way to stay in one place for too long, and it was even less possible to have any attachments. He couldn't have a family, because he had to disappear from his family's sight at the happiest moment, leaving behind only their pain, and perhaps his own sorrow.

Luo Qiu suddenly understood why the previous owner of the Club had shown such ecstatic joy and eagerness... eagerness to be freed from this loneliness.

The former owner had perhaps personally watched his relatives, or lovers, or even descendants grow old and die one by one – of course, this was just Luo Qiu's speculation.

Before he returned, he had asked You Ye what kind of person the previous owner was, and from You Ye's answer, he only learned that the previous owner was a man of few words.

The former owner only appeared when guests arrived; normally, he would stay in his room, opening an old music box and listening to it all day.

And You Ye had listened for three hundred years.

Looking at it this way, it seemed quite terrifying – perhaps one day in the future, Luo Qiu would become like the former owner.

"First, I'll live these ten years like a normal person."

Perhaps the future would be accompanied by eternal solitude, but for Luo Qiu, for someone his age who was still full of imagination, it was more about the mystery and the myriad of impossibilities brought about by the Club.

The CD player was playing an English song to help him fall asleep, titled "Amazing Grace."

As he was about to fall asleep, Luo Qiu felt that if what he yearned for was solitude, then all of this might be a strange grace for him.

He woke up in the evening.

He must have woken up upon hearing movement from the kitchen at home.

Luo Qiu walked out of his room. The aroma wafting from the kitchen indicated that the person cooking was making one of his favorite dishes.

The woman was simple, wearing a plain blue shirt and jeans, her hair casually tied up. Wearing an apron, she busied herself in the kitchen.

Although simple, she was also young and beautiful. At twenty-nine years old, she should be at the peak of a woman's beauty in today's society.

Perhaps many successful men would pursue her, but she had clearly spent that time returning home to take care of her child.

Ren Ziling, driven by her interest, had worked as a reporter for a newspaper after graduation and seemed to have already reached the position of deputy editor.

The young reporter had met Luo Qiu's father during the process of reporting and interviewing a murder case years ago. Then, as if under a spell, she fell in love at first sight with Luo Qiu's father, a widower who had lost his wife early in life.

Perhaps there were some stories that happened in the process that could shake a middle-aged man who had lost his wife and a young woman, stories that Luo Qiu didn't know.

Then, in the simple two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, the presence of this woman named Ren Ziling began to be felt.

It had been three years... since that man passed away.

But she was still here.

"Luo Qiu, you're awake? I was thinking of calling you when the food was ready." Ren Ziling heard the movement behind her, turned around with the spatula she was using to stir-fry.

Perhaps due to the intense heat, Ren Ziling's bangs stuck to her forehead, strand by strand, like misplaced threads in embroidery.

Seeing Luo Qiu staring at her without a word, Ren Ziling instinctively touched her face. "Did I get something on my face?"

Luo Qiu shook his head and turned to walk to the living room to watch some television, but he still reminded her, "...The range hood isn't on."

"Ah! Oh no!!"

As if just realizing it, Ren Ziling quickly turned on the range hood, in a flurry of activity. But she still made sure to emphasize, "It'll be ready soon! The meal will be ready very soon. Do you want to wash your hands first?"

Of course, Ren Ziling, accustomed to it, didn't receive a response from Luo Qiu and continued to busy herself with the food on the stove.

Luo Qiu turned on the television and started watching the news – this was how he had spent his time for the past few years.

At nine o'clock in the evening, they were at the dinner table.

Ren Ziling seemed to proudly recommend her cooking to Luo Qiu, placing food directly into his bowl.

Luo Qiu suddenly said, "If you're busy with work lately, you don't have to come back to cook."

The Club was operating normally... perhaps Luo Qiu's schedule was even more unstable than that of this current deputy editor of the newspaper.

Ren Ziling suddenly tapped Luo Qiu's bowl with her chopsticks and said with a stern face, "Classmate Luo Qiu, I don't recall asking you about this so-called 'spontaneous trip,' do I? Then shouldn't you also respect my rights as a mother?"

"Mmm..."

Luo Qiu could only lower his head and chew on the braised lion's head in his bowl.

As expected... after all these years, she still can't cook this dish right.

Perhaps it was due to exhaustion, but after eating and cleaning up, Ren Ziling went straight to her room to sleep without bothering with the unwashed dishes.

After Luo Qiu washed the bowls and chopsticks, he planned to enjoy the breeze on the balcony. However, he suddenly heard You Ye's call, saying that the club had new guests.

And these so-called new guests were those who found the club not because they held a voucher, but because they stumbled upon it themselves... they were the new guests.